kiam

While I truly appreciate the ability to issue the ticket and make payment online once a waitlisted seat is confirmed rather than calling in and/or having to go to TG office in some countries who cannot accept payment by phone using a credit card, I wonder if this new award scheme is essentially the same thing we currently have (ability to waitlist X/I/O and issue ticket once waitlist is confirmed) or they will actually use a different inventory (like some airlines charge double miles and use paid inventory for award ticket)? Knowing Thai, I have a bad feeling it is the first rather than the later, but they may surprise me.

Does anyone have any clues on how this Priority Awards will actually work?

PS: I disappeared for a long while from the forum, hope you all are still doing well ! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !

11277m

Here are are the posts so far on the subjects, starting at post #10 in this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...ilability.html

Creole Spirit
Thai introduces "priority awards" (in addition to regular awards)....
http://edm.royal-orchid-plus.com/Dis...hp?page=page_1

11277m
I wonder when the details will arrive...
how many more miles, and what are their "busy travel periods" and "high demand flights"?

BinSabai
remember that they wanted to double the miles for awards and then after huge protests they withdraw the whole increase!
are they now trying this again and testing with this announcement whether another storm will raise?

Creole Spirit
good point!
let's see and wait (or even protest already now?)


11277m
That "doubling" announcement was made at short notice and when it was withdrawn they promised that details of any future changes would be given well in advance of any implementation.

The current announcement gives no details at all, so I've no idea if it's to passengers' advantage or disadvantage, although the positive way in which it is spun gives me good reason to think it's bad news.

I remember the reason given for doubling the mileage cost for award tickets was that members "wanted improved award availability". I guess if you double the cost of something you will reduce the demand and thereby increase the availability, bit it's somewhat tortured logic!

As always, the devil will be in the detail. I wonder when those details will be made available? The current newsletter would have been the perfect opportunity!!

Thai-Kiwi

Welcome back - and I think I might have been absent for a quite a while as well......

kiam

Thanks 11277m for pointing out where it was originally discussed, appreciate it. I guess we have to wait very patiently and see. I am just afraid high demand flights will simply mean those without X/I/O seats.

In the meantime, ROP account summary page finally displays renewal information ! ^

11277m

Hi Kiam, and Thai-Kiwi too. Long time no hear.

I thought it better to move all the posts this one thread. It might become a long one!

Award availability used to be no problem for ROP Gold, but a few years ago it became more difficult, sometimes impossible, around busy times, and the same happened to Gold upgrades.

The announcement doesn't really tell us all anything useful, and it would surely have been better to delay the publication until they had finalised the details.

kiam

If TG Moderator would agree, I would ask that Priority Awards discussion remains a separate topic from generic Award Availability thread as the purposes of discussing the two are different, in my opinion. Once TG reveals how this new award works, I believe it will bring up a lot of discussion. Thanks for your consideration.

Noppasit

There is no chart about this on TG website

11277m

Correct. I can't find any either. They did announce that it would be "beginning in February" but bear in mind that the January to March 2016 newsletter isn't showing yet on their English language websites!

ChampagneSocialist

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/offers/...wards_2016.htm

195000 miles for roundtrip Europe-BKK... ouch!
Looks like it's roundtrip only.

travelislife

The big question though, is it going to impact Thai's standard award availability which is generally very good.

kiam

I just called in to book my award ticket (international), standard award is still allowed on waitlisted flights. I am still not clear if passengers need to specifically say that we need priority award or in the near future, all waitlisted award seat will automatically become priority award.

11277m

The Priority Awards are all 150% of the regular award (in J and F) and 110%-120% in Y.

Everything hinges on whether these priority awards are extra seats available, or merely taken from the previously available regular award inventory.

"Sorry sir, there are no regular award seats available, but you can have one if you pay 50% extra." THAI have given themselves the ability to increase the cost at will, without publishing details and on each occasion it is only a single passenger they are dealing with.

It's a lot less likely to cause a mass protest than their plan to double the mileage requirements a couple of years ago, which they withdrew just as it was about to be implemented.

Only time will tell whether these Priority Award will mean an increase or decrease in overall award availability, or whether they will just result in an increased mileage cost.

spk

I guess that the Priority Award will pull seats from the inventory of the deeply discounted fare in the respective class. This should make it easier to obtain an award seat.

Another possibility is that your name will be bumped to the top of the waiting list of the normal award inventory, increasing the chance of clearing the waitlist.

ChampagneSocialist

One would hope so!
So I wonder if it would work like the GUP/PUPs - for example, I just used a voucher recently and upgraded a Q to J. (I have previously paid for deep discounted business class fares that are still coded J.)

Are waitlists that hard to clear in practice? I've only had very limited experience - albeit as TG Gold - LHR-BKK and BKK-LHR clearing within a couple of days of requesting.

kiam

I read the e-newsletter received today, I still couldn't understand it. Went to TG website (Thailand), Priority Award is not even yet on there. I have a bad feeling that standard award will no longer allow waitlist (only confirmed award seats can be redeemed), only Priority award will allow waitlist.